CORTLAND, N.Y. -- The Jets on Sunday officially declared rookie safety Calvin had sustained a concussion a day earlier, and that Pryor would now be subject to the NFL's concussion protocol before he can return to action.

Pryor did not practice Sunday and was not even out on the field with his teammates. There is no timetable for his return, since the league's concussion guidelines mandate that he pass a number of cognitive evaluations before he can be cleared. The team has a day off from practice Monday. If Pryor passes the tests, he could be back as early as the next practice on Tuesday.

Head coach Rex Ryan could not say what sort of symptoms Pryor may have been experiencing, but he did clarify what happened on the play in which Pryor was concussed. Saturday, Ryan said the injury happened when Pryor was in on punt protection. Sunday, he said that while that had been his understanding at the time, Pryor was actually concussed during a kickoff return drill.

"He was blocking, and the return man kind of got knocked into him and kind of just hit him right," Ryan said. "Like one of those heavyweights hitting you in the chin. The lights go out."

Ryan repeated what he said Saturday, saying he would continue to use a number of starters—he specifically mentioned that inside linebacker Demario Davis would be on the punt team—on all of the special teams units.

Ryan wasn't sure if Pryor had been concussed before, though he did say, "He never had a history of it, if that's what you mean, in college."

The Jets did initially say Pryor left Saturday's with practice with a "head injury" pending further evaluation to determine whether it was in fact a concussion. But in an overwhelming majority of cases in the NFL, a head injury of this nature—"the lights go out"—is a concussion. While what the Jets said Saturday is likely medically accurate, it's still misleading in that it frames the injury vaguely instead of as a likely concussion. Concussive or sub-concussive, what happened to Pryor is a brain injury.

That said, it's to the Jets credit that they immediately removed Pryor from practice Saturday and didn't have him return, that they then ran the tests, got a proper diagnosis, and now intend to abide by the concussion guidelines. This is about more than protecting their investment because Pryor is a first-round pick; it's really about taking enough precautions to ensure Pryor's long-term health. So far, by all indications, the Jets have handled this situation properly.